good/bad 09 dodge nitro

3.7L 4x4

Have an 09 SLT, was my daughter’s now my wife’s. 3.7, bought in 2017 with 146k, now at 184k. Bad head gasket from day one, uses about a pint of coolant a week. I manage to get the CEL off to get it through inspection but it always finds a new way to turn it on. Wife loves the ride. Lots of electrical issues to chase. Great in the snow even with the low profile 20” tires, I think the ESC and 4WD together help with that. Daughter’s key fell apart while she was driving and the alarm system wasn’t having any of that. The fact that she was starting to have to drive a lot for school while my wife is working from home made them swap as my daughter lost confidence in it.

Forgot , trans cooler is part of the AC condenser, I was not opening a perfectly functioning AC system so it got a Hayden plate cooler when the original one started leaking.
And it has needed a water pump, was one of the easiest I have changed.
Heater core needs to be flushed every fall too lol.

Its a Jeep liberty

Yep, may not have a low range transfer case but they are the same car.

Some friends of mine had a 2010 Liberty they bought with like 15000 miles on it in 2011. I believe they ran it to almost 200K, then sold it to her Parents a few years ago and they are still driving it. IIRC the only real problem was a failed water pump. They are very good with basic maintenance which I am sure helped.

I drove it several times, drove well but it was a total slug. Getting a 2012 with the 3.6 would be worth the extra money. I think they have about 75 more HP and better economy.

The sister in law had a 2010 Nitro, she had nothing but problems with it from the day she bought it used.
She had it 2 or 3 years and something was constantly wrong with it.
The A/C compressor clutch shorted and burned up.
The heat didn't work in the winter, I thought possibly a blocked heater core but that wasn't the problem.
They have problems with the HVAC controls which are all computerized.

I wouldn't own a 3.7 they have all the same issues as a 4.7, the 3.7 is basically just a 4.7 with 2 cylinders cut off.

I like the Nitro's body style, but that's about it.

They never put the 3.6L in them, I wish they did, one that looks like this with the pentastar would be a cool little buggy.